Jessica Stern

Dr. Jessica Stern is a developmental psychologist and researcher examining close relationships, parenting, and children's social development. She completed her Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Maryland (2019) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at Pomona College and directs the Family, Attachment & eMpathy (FAM) Lab.

• Education
  • Ph.D., Psychology, University of Maryland (2019)
  • B.A., Psychology (summa cum laude), Pomona College (2012)

Her research investigates how social relationships shape human health, wellbeing, and behavior across the lifespan, with a focus on attachment relationships, empathy, prosocial behavior, brain development, and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social experiences. Current projects explore social influences on young children's empathy, helping behavior, and moral judgments of environmental harm.

Dr. Stern co-authored the forthcoming book Beyond Difficult: An attachment-based guide to dealing with challenging people (2025) and co-edited a 2022 special issue of Attachment & Human Development titled "Attachment perspectives on race, prejudice, and antiracism." Her work has been featured in Scientific American, CNN, and parenting blogs.

• Scientific Awards
  • Transformative Neurodevelopment Pilot Grant
  • National Research Service Award (F32)
  • Society for Personality and Social Psychology Small Climate Research Grant
  • Society for Research in Child Development Dissertation Funding Award
  • Milton Dean Havron Social Sciences Award
  • National Science Foundation GRFP Fellowship
  • University of Maryland Flagship Fellowship

As director of the FAM Lab, she leads research on attachment relationships and social development, supported by grants from the UVA Brain Institute, Baby Brain Initiative, and others. She also contributes to science communication through her Psychology Today blog, which has accumulated over 70,000 readers.